Tag Archives: party

Mardi Gras is officially upon us here in the Big Easy. The first parade was last weekend (Krewe du Vieux) and the Muses had their float viewing party on Sunday.

We headed to Avenue Pub on Saturday instead of the parade because it looked like rain, and the last place in New Orleans you want to be when it’s raining is the French Quarter. I glittered some shoes yesterday for a friend riding in Muses and somehow managed to also edit the paper last night.

This weekend we may head to some Metairie parades, which I tend to like because they’re a lot more laid-back than parades in town. There is no pushing or waiting hours in advance for these week-before-MG parades. I usually get to the Clearview Mall about 40 minutes before the parades, waltz right out onto Veterans Memorial and have about 100 feet of roadside to myself. It’s a good warm up for the following weekend.

Bourbon Street during Mardi Gras 2011

Stacey will be coming in town again for the big parades in two weeks – Muses, Orpheus, Bacchus, etc. and for the aMUSEment party where Joan Jett will be performing next Thursday! I cannot wait to see her live; I really think she’s the perfect girl-power performer for the party. But my biggest point of interest in the coming weeks is that WILL FERRELL will be reigning over the Bacchus parade. I have waited a long time to see him – maybe I’ll get my chance next week.

And for once, I’m way ahead of the game for Valentine’s Day next week. I got Wesley something very sentimental and something very practical – they balance each other out I think.

This was what the krewe calls “Muses Big Weekend.” We had bead distribution on Saturday and today we had our big float-viewing party.

I bought a lot of great throws from the Muses this year to share with family and friends. I also got a great Muses necklace! And the day really felt like a Mardi Gras kick-off thanks to the Krewe du Vieux parade in the Quarter.

Krewe du Vieux

I don’t know what was going on with the streetcar yesterday, but RTA really F’ed up. There were hundreds of people waiting for the trolley when we got to the stop about 45 minutes before the parade. The streetcar finally came about 15 minutes after the parade was scheduled to stop. We did make it to the parade, but then on the way home we took a taxi after waiting 25 minutes and there not being a streetcar in sight. We didn’t see one going down the line on St. Charles towards the Quarter until we were almost to Carrollton. Something just was not right.

Anyway, the parade had a lot of high-energy people and OK throws. Since we got there late and didn’t get in the front, we only got a couple of beads. But it was fun to just see the anti-Palin, anti-“Tea Party” floats go down the road.

Iconic Muses shoe float

Today Wesley and I headed to the West Bank Mardi Gras World for the Muses float-viewing party where the krewe debuts all of this year’s floats and some free food and drinks. The floats were super-awesome and really edgy this year so get excited – only 11 days left to wait!

A Muses shoe I decorated

After the party, I headed to a friend’s house for my first Muses shoe-decorating party. I loved the shoes I made and really, really hope I catch some in the parade! I already bought the ingredients for two excellent Muses signs for me and Stacey to hold during the parade.

First off, I would like to throw my picks for the Oscars out there; if you like ’em you can take ’em, if you don’t you can throw them right back. I’m not picking in every category because there’s a few things I feel that I’m not informed enough to choose. Here we go:

Best Picture: Avatar

Best Actress: Sandra Bullock, the Blind Side

Best Supporting Actress: Mo’nique, Precious

Best Animated Film: Coraline

Best Adapted Screenplay: District 9

Best Makeup: Star Trek (in that they hit the original really well)

Best Film Editing: Avatar (didn’t it take Cameron like 4 years to edit all that film? That’s dedication.)

On a side note, I thought it was interesting that the Princess and the Frog has two songs up for “Best Original Song.” I’m not an avid Oscar watcher – in fact this will probably be the first year I’ll watch them all the way through – but I’m wondering, does this happen often? Or is this something special? Either way, I need to see this movie.